Stefan Molnar

Stefan is a social and behavioural scientist at the Built Environment Division, Local and Regional Transition Unit. He is focused on questions about how to understand, analyse and influence people's behaviours, experiences and living conditions in relation to the surrounding environment. He applies this knowledge in two main areas:

1. The interaction between people and place: How people use and experience places in cities and towns, such as residential areas, city centers, streets, squares and green spaces. Here, Stefan is not least interested in how the design and organization of places and technologies (e.g. mobility and Internet of Things) can pave the way for values such as safety, accessibility, happiness, health and environmentally friendly behaviors.

2. Organization of urban- and spatial development: How processes in which people together try to improve places are organized, governed and managed in practice. Here, Stefan works not least with the role that different working methods, policies, analytical instruments and technologies can have in contributing to better processes and, in the long run, to more sustainable living environments.

Stefan's work is always carried out in close collaboration with actors outside the research community, such as municipalities, real estate companies, technology companies, consultants and civil society actors. It often consists of a combination of his own empirical studies, compilation of existing research and development of practical reports and tools.

Stefan holds a master's degree from the University of Gothenburg, and a doctoral degree from Chalmers University of Technology.

Prior to joining RISE in 2013, Stefan worked with urban and spatial development issues at the City of Gothenburg and in his own consulting firm. Before to that, he worked with issues of migration and sexual violence at the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg and at the NGO Individuell Människohjälp.

Stefan also has experience from a number of board assignments and appointments in the field of spatial and societal planning. He is currently a member of the editorial board of the Linkedin page and the newsletter Framtidens Samhällsbyggnad at RISE, as well as the board of the Association for Community Planning West.